Getting Ready for the Start of the Season

Even before spring arrives, the garden can be planned out. This helps organize things as the season arrives. Once the garden is planned there might be some time in between. There are many activities you can do before you plant including working the soil, cleaning your garden tools and buying seeds.

There are many things you can do in the garden before you start planting. One is working the soil. About a month to six weeks before you can start gardening outdoors, you can prepare your soil. But remember that if you work the soil when it’s too wet it may hinder the growing process. Do the soil test. Grab a fistful, squeeze. If most of the soil crumbles, then it is time to work the soil. If most of the soil compacts and stays in the ball you just squeezed together, then wait a bit before you work it.

If your garden soil is not ideal (and many soils are not ideal) then you may have to add amendments to it. Early spring is a good time to add amendments to the soil. Amendments to your garden soil add things such as nutrients and moisture retention qualities to your garden soil. Common amendments are compost, fertilizer, mosture retaining compounds such as vermiculite or perlite, sand and peat. Most garden vegetables perfer a neutral pH soil. This means it isn’t to acidic or isn’t too alkaline. Some soils that are too alkaline need amendments to add some acidity to make it balanced. Garden soils that are too acidic need an amendment with some alkalinity to make it more balanced. You can buy a soil kit that measure pH to indicate whether you need to add anything to make the garden soil more balanced.

Tools can also be prepared. Now they should be cleaned thoroughly each season. This prolongs the life of each tool. It also helps clean off any contaminated dirt the tool may hold. If your tools need moderate to light cleaning, then a mild dish detergent and warm weather should be sufficient to clean the tools. If more heavy cleaning is necessary, you can use bleach for many tools if you wish. If you don’t want to use bleach, you can soak the tools for fifteen minutes or so and then rinse them. Repeat if necessary. Make sure the tools are dried completely.

It is perhaps still too cold outside to start gardening but it doesn’t mean you can’t start the garden season. With a little help from early garden activities, you can get a head start. Before you know it, you’ll be planting the garden.